CryoLife Lays Off 105 Employees

Sep 4, 2002 | AP

CryoLife Inc. laid off more than a quarter of its employees and reduced its second-quarter results to reflect the cost of a government-ordered recall of human tissue products for implants linked to a death and numerous serious infections.

Most of the 105 dismissed workers were tissue-processing technicians, said John Deaver of Fleishman-Hillard, the company handling public relations for CryoLife. The Kennesaw-based company employed 384 people before the layoffs.

CryoLife, the nation's largest supplier of living human tissue for implantation, is being investigated by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission.

In August, the federal Food and Drug Administration ordered the company to recall all soft tissue processed since Oct. 3, a month before a Minnesota man died from tainted tissue he was given in a knee operation. The FDA also has recommended that doctors consider other sources for human heart valves.

Costs associated with the recall more than wiped out CryoLife's second quarter profit. The company said Wednesday it lost $5.5 million, or 28 cents per share in the period. The company had earlier reported a $2.8 million profit, or 14 cents per share, for the three months ending June 30.

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